Swans edged out by Coly in final trial

GRIFFITH'S pre-season preparations ended on a dull note on Friday night, falling by 10 points in a scrappy practice match against Farrer League outfit Coleambally Blues.

Australian football

Coleambally ................... 4.10 (34)

Griffith .............................. 3.6 (24)

GRIFFITH'S pre-season preparations ended on a dull note on Friday night, falling by 10 points in a scrappy practice match against Farrer League outfit Coleambally Blues.

The Swans struggled to deal with the wet, miserable conditions at the lowly-lit Coly No.1 Oval and only outscored the Blues in the third quarter on their way to the 4.10 (34) to 3.6 (24) defeat.

Ben McRae, James Toscan and Dean Crack were the only goalkickers for the visitors, who must now regroup before facing Turvey Park in Wagga on April 12 to kick off the new Riverina Football League season.

Swans coach Brandon Mathews said there were still some lessons his side could take out of what turned into an unspectacular slogfest.

"In a way it's probably good to have a night like that because it shows a few deficiencies," he said.

"To be honest, they just might have been a bit more physical and smarter about it than what we were.

"They probably used first options better than us and played to the conditions.

"Coleambally probably worked a bit harder than what we did but other than that it was just another trial.

"Just the way the conditions were, being the night it was, you can't really be too hard on them."

Mathews said he was impressed with James Taylor's job on star Coleambally forward Dean Pound, while he was also pleased with the progress of the Swans' young brigade.

Griffith was without ruck recruit Michael Griffiths and full-forward Trevor Richards and it showed, with the Blues' outmuscling the Swans in the wet.

"I'm not going to make excuses for them but it's hard at this time of year when we're trying to practice certain things and you get a day like that," Mathews said.

"Obviously we're going to get them through the year but we'd like a bit more practice.

"Once we hammer all that home in the next couple of weeks and work on our skills a bit more, we should be right."